Editing the Windows System Path Variables

If you ever did try to change the Windows system path variables then you might have cursed Microsoft for creating such a tiny form to edit those variables. The system path is being used by Windows to find executables and dependencies in Windows which will be used to find an application if you use the run box in Windows for instance. A system wide path and a user defined path exists with the system wide path having priority over the user defined one.

The order of the entries is important as well since the first hit will be selected by Windows. Now if you take a look at your system paths you notice that the Windows form is completely useless. You can access those variables by accessing the System Properties in the Control Panel, clicking on the Advanced tab there and then on the Environment Variables button. If you highlight the path variable and click on Edit you know what I mean.

The window that is opening is displaying 30 or 40 chars only and you have to scroll to see all entries which is not really helping to keep an overview of all the path variables. You could copy and paste the line into a text editor, edit it there and copy and paste it back when your finished but there is a better solution available.

Redmond Path 1.0 [via Shell Extension City] displays the path variables the way Microsoft should have done it a long time ago. I’m wondering why those things are never fixed in updates or new Windows releases. You can raise and lower variables, remove them, edit them and add new ones.

Redmond path comes with a rollback option, supports Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 2003 and requires the .net framework.